Concerns raised over Oyster card payments

By UK CreditCards.com

Changes
need to be made to the Oyster card system to ensure passengers understand how
the fares work and do not pay more than necessary, a watchdog group has said.
Research by London TravelWatch suggests that many Pay As You Go passengers do
not fully understand the system and that transport companies are making
millions of pounds extra as a result.

Campaigners for London TravelWatch are concerned that public
trust in the Oyster card could be eroded unless efforts are made to increase
transparency and make it easier for passengers to claim refunds.

Research
uncovers Oyster concerns
Figures
show that London's transport companies received more than £60m as a result of passengers
making so-called 'incomplete' journeys on their Oyster cards in 2010. People
who use Oyster Pay As You Go cards are charged the maximum amount for a single
journey if they fail to touch in at the start and touch out at the end. This
means that an incomplete journey during peak hours costs £6.50, while a similar
off-peak journey costs £4.40. Up to 40% of the £60m paid for these incomplete
journeys last year is thought to have been an overcharge.

To shed
light on the problem, London TravelWatch asked Outlook Research to organise
focus groups involving Oyster users on the London Underground, National Rail
services, Docklands Light Railway and London Tramlink. These revealed that many
passengers do not understand the fare structure, or how to claim refunds if
they believe they have been wrongly charged. Most welcomed the value for money
offered by their Oyster card, but claimed that this could be undermined by the
financial loss incurred by incomplete journeys and problems experienced when
trying to claim their money back. The research also found that many Pay As You
Go users did not know about on or off-peak fares, or how to work out the
cheapest routes.

"The Oyster smartcard is immensely
popular, but it is clear that passengers have big knowledge and information
gaps about how to get value for money, and how to claim refunds," said London
TravelWatch chair Sharon Grant in a press release. "Not only does
this result in overpayment, but it threatens to undermine Oyster's success as
passengers start to lose trust in the system."

Ms Grant called for an
education and information campaign to improve awareness, as well as efforts to
resolve the problems surrounding incomplete journeys. "Oyster
is a good product, offering convenience to passengers, and we would hate to see
passengers' faith in it undermined and damaged," noted Ms Grant.

Industry
admits more could be done
A
representative of the Association of Train Operating Companies responded to the
research, insisting that the "vast majority" of passengers touch in
and out correctly. They also said that stations make regular announcements
emphasising the importance of doing so. "The
roll-out of Oyster Pay As You Go on National Rail has made public transport
around the capital easier and cheaper for many thousands of passengers every
day," the spokesperson argued in a release.

However, a
spokesman for Transport for London conceded that while the number of incomplete
journeys is falling, "more could be done" to help passengers. He told
the Evening Standard: "Any customer who believes they have been
incorrectly charged a maximum fare should contact us."